Sunday, March 9, 2014

Just read another article forecasting the demise of private
practice, which is the model I practice in.
We certainly feel the squeeze here in Cleveland, where our small
gastroenterology (GI) practice is suffering from some breathlessness as
surrounding health care institutions suck up oxygen in the community.

Now, being deprived of oxygen isn’t necessarily fatal. Many patients suffer from diseases that
result in low oxygen levels in their blood.
Folks who live at high altitudes don’t have the same concentration of
oxygen available as do those who reside at sea level. Yet, they live active lives.

How do these folks survive? Do they have lessons for my GI practice?

Take a Deep Breath...

Here are some options that help individuals with low oxygen
levels breathe easier.

Reduce activity level to minimize oxygen requirement. This is why folks with respiratory conditions
tend to remain sedentary so they can function at a lower oxygen level. Not sure if there’s a lesson here for our
practice. Do we move more slowly in the
office? Do we see fewer patients? If we doctors used oxygen tanks, would this
inject more vitality into the practice?

Attack the root cause of the oxygen assault. If the cause of a patient’s low oxygen is pneumonia,
then prescribe the right antibiotic to reverse the injury. If the doctors in our practice attacked the
proximate cause of our oxygen deprivation, we could go to jail.

Train at a high altitude locale for athletic competition in
the lowlands. Marathoners seek out high
altitude training courses to build endurance in preparation for the big race down
below. Perhaps, we should move our
practice to high altitude Colorado for a year.
After doing colonoscopies there for a year, imagine the increase in our
performance when we returned to Cleveland?
I will place this on the agenda of our upcoming practice meeting.

1 comment:

Interesting analogy Dr. GI specialist. Particularly this was to me, since I practice Pulmonology and I am in the process of opening a practice in a hilly area. Hopefully this will give me endurance increasing my Hb and cope with hypoxia that you now experience. If you move to high altitude of Colorado, the development of your compensatory polycythemia will make you tolerant to the hypoxia . The later which will help you transiently. when returning to Cleveland. However you may experience same Oxygen deprivation again unless if you keep steady running during your practice :) ...

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About Me

I am a full time practicing physician and writer. I write about the joys and challenges of medical practice including controversies in the doctor-patient relationship, medical ethics and measuring medical quality. When I'm not writing, I'm performing colonoscopies.